It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Training camps are officially underway for the thirty AHL teams and the preseason game is set for tonight between the Chicago Wolves and the Peoria Rivermen. With the start of training, there has been a ton of happenings taking place in the AHL. Here are some of the top news stories from around the league.

AHL

The AHL has announced the inductees for American Hockey League Hall of Fame Class of 2013. The four individuals that are in the 2013 class are Harvey Bennett Sr., Ken Gernander, Jim Morrison, and Peter White. Harvey Bennett Sr. played goal for thirteen season in the AHL spading from 1944 until 1959. A two time Calder Cup Champion, 1946-1947 Hershey Bearn and 1948-1949 Providence Reds, Bennett played 540 regular season games winning 260 of them ranking fourth in AHL history. Ken Gernander has spend the last twenty years in the AHL as a player and now as a coach. Beginning his career with Moncton for three season, Gernander then signed with the New York Rangers and began his long career with Hartford (eventually the Connecticut Whale). A 2000 Calder Cup Champion, Gernander played until 2005 and then continued his hockey career by acting as assistant coach and eventually head coach for the Hartford Wolfpack (now the Connecticut Whale). Jim Morrison played twenty two seasons in the AHL, spending time with the Hershey Bears, Pittsburgh Hornets, Quebec Aces, and Baltimore Clippers. Morrison also served has the first elected president of the AHL players’ associations upon its formation in 1967. Peter White was a offensive weapon in the AHL during the 90′s. Spending time with the Cape Breton Oilers, Philadelphia Phantoms, Norfolk Admirals, and Utah Grizzlies during his AHL career. White fellow AHL Hall of Famers Bill Sweeney, Bruce Boudreau and Tim Tookey as players that have recorded three 100-point seasons. The Class of 2013 will be honored during the AHL All-Star Classic on January 28, in Providence Rhode Island.

Abbotsford

The Abbotsford Heat kicked off the 2012-2013 training camp on September 27th and will continue until October 5th. A total of forty-four players reported to the nine-day camp, nineteen newcomers along with twenty five returning Heat. The forty-four players have been broken down into two teams, which consist of the following.

RED TEAM

BLACK TEAM:

Goalies

#30 Taylor, Danny

#33 Brust, Barry

#31 Rollheiser, Grant

#35 Evin, Alex

Defensemen

#5 Fritsch, Jamie

#2 Lamb, Brady

#6 Breen, Chris

#3 Martin, James

#16 Callahan, Joe

#4 McKelvie, Zach

#22 Cowan, Dave

#18 MacKenzie, Drew

#29 Brodie, TJ

#29 McCarthy, Steve

#38 Tuzzolino, Nick

#42 Merth, Peter

#40 Isherwood, Mark

#43 Piskula, Joe

#44 Urban, Dennis

Forwards

#7 Estoclet, Adam

#8 Kolanos, Krys

#9 Street, Ben

#11 Laing, Quintin

#10 Bouma, Lance

#12 Byron, Paul

#15 Nemisz, Greg

#14 Wahl, Mitch

#17 Walter, Ben

#19 Sylvester, Dustin

#20 Horak, Roman

#23 Cameron, Bryan

#26 Ruegsegger, Tyler

#24 Eddy, David

#27 Howse, Ryan

#25 Reinhart, Max

#28 Aliu, Akim

#34 Bancks, Carter

#32 Patterson, Gaelan

#36 Ferland, Michael

#47 Baertschi, Sven

#39 Kremyr, Jordan

#48 Olson, Brett

#46 Mouillierat, Kael

#49 Nunn, Garry

Adirondack

Training camp for the Adirondack Phantoms opened on September 29 at The Virtua Center Flyers Skate Zone in Voorhees, NJ and will run through October 7th. A total of thirty-nine players have reported to camp including many 2011-2012 NHLers. Below is the training camp roster.

The Senator prior to the beginning of training camp signed goaltender Marc Cheverie to a one-year American Hockey League contract. Training camp kicked off on Friday September 28th and will run until Friday October 12th. Thirty-six players are in attendance for the Senators forming the following roster.

The Sound Tigers training camp kicked off on Friday, September 28th at IceWorks in Syosset, N.Y. and will run until Saturday, October 6th. Their training camp roster consists of twenty seven players and is the following.

Prior to the start of the Checkers training camp, they signed goaltender Dan Ellis to a professional tryout contract. Ellis is most notably known as Jonas Hiller’s backup in Anaheim. The Checkers kicked off training camp on September 29th with a roster that consists of thirty-five players, with a notable absences of Brett Skinner, whom was given the option not to report. Their training camp roster consists of:

The Chicago Wolves opened training camp with a signing, Steve Pinizzotto, who was a member of the 2009 and 2010 Calder Cup Champion Hershey Bears. The Wolves kicked off training camp on Friday, September 28th and will run until October 6th. (Note due to technical issues on the Wolves site the roster was unable to be found).

Connecticut

Prior to the start of training camp the Whale signed defenseman Sebastien Piche, Sam Klassen and forward Danny Hobbs to an American Hockey League contract. Training camp kicked off on Sunday, September 30th with a roster of thirty nine players.

The Hamilton Bulldogs signed three players to American Hockey League contracts prior to the start of training camp, these players are goaltender Cedrick Desjardins, forward Aaron Palushaj and defenseman Frederic St-Dennis. Camp kicked off on Friday, September 28th and will run until Friday, October 12th. A total of forty-three players will be taking part in this camp.

Jon Kalinski was signed by the Hershey Bears to an American Hockey League contract prior to the start of the 2012 training camp. Training camp kicked off on Sunday, September 30th and will last until Sunday, October 7th. A total of forty three players reported to the Hershey training camp and formed the following roster.

The Aeros kicked off their training camp on September 28th at the Xcel Energy Center and will continue there until September 30th. Then they will return to Texas and continue with training camp until October 11th. A total of thirty-seven players reported for training camp this year.

The Monarchs kicked off their training camp on Saturday, September 29th and will continue until Thursday, October 11th. A total of twenty six players have reported to training camp shaping the following roster.

Prior to kicking off their training camp today the Admirals signed the following three players to American Hockey League contracts, forward Chris Mueller, Defenseman Jon Blum and Mike Moore. This eleven day camp will wrap up on Thursday, October 11th. A total of twenty-seven players will be in attendance.

The Admirals started the preseason by signing the following six players to American Hockey League contracts, Troy Bodie, Luca Caputi, Gabe Guentzel, Ryan Hegarty, John Kurtz, and Nick Schaus. Camp kicked off on Friday, September 28th and runs until Sunday, October 7th. Thirty-three players have reported for camp and include.

Prior to training camp kicking off the Rivermen signed defenseman Bret Regner to an American Hockey League contract. Training camp kicked off on Friday, September 28 and will continue until Saturday, October 6th. A total of thirty-three players reported to camp and created the following roster.

The Pirates kicked off their 2012 training camp on Sunday September 30th and will run until Thursday, October 11th. A total of thirty-one players make up their training camp roster and includes the following players.

The Amerks kicked off their 2012 training camp on Friday, September 28 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo for two days. They then returned to Rochester when training camp will run through October 6th.

The IceHogs kicked off the 2012 preseason on Sunday, September 30th and training camp will continue until Monday, October 8th. A total of thirty-four players are among the participates in this year’s camp.

The Rampage kicked off their 2012 training camp on Sunday, September 30th and will rund until Saturday, October 6th. A total of thirty-five players are taking part in this year’s training camp and create the following roster.

Prior to training camp the Penguins signed five players to American Hockey League contracts. These players are goaltenders Brad Thiessen and Jeff Zatkoff, defensemen Robert Bortuzzo and Brian Strait and forward Eric Tangradi. The Penguins kicked off their 2012 training camp on Friday, September 28th and will continue until Monday October 8th. A total of thirty-three players create the Penguins training camp roster.

The Sharks kicked off the preseason by signing forwards Tim Kennedy, Brandon Mashinter, John McCarthy, Frazer McLaren,and James Sheppard, and defensemen Matt Plech and Nick Petrecki to an American Hockey League contract. Training camp started on September 28th and camps consists of thirty-five players.